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Useful Terms & Phrases

 

USEFUL TERMS & PHRASES

A QUICK GUIDE TO JAPANESE PRONUNCIATION

Japanese letters represent single vowels or syllabic sounds from a consonant and a vowel.
= a (as in car) = pe (as in pet)

The vowel system of Japanese is much simpler than English. All vowels sounds are short.

a
i
u
e
o		 – as in car, America (ɑ :) (ka, ma, sa, na, wa)
– as in Italy, bee (i :) (ki, bi, ni, hi)
– as in too, (u :) (su, nu, ku, mu)
–as in egg, enemy (ɛ) (te, ne, me, he)
– as in cot, orange (ɒ) (ko, po, no, so)

Consonants are followed by a vowel sound and pronounced as in English.

ka = car
ki= key
ku = coo
ke = ke(rry)
ko = co(ffee) 		ma = ma
pi = pea
nu = new
me = me(rry)
po = po(t)

The exceptions to this are:

w
r
g
f		 – often not pronounced
– has a slight trill made from the tongue being behind the teeth
– is slightly more nasal (similar to the sound in hanger)
– has a softer sound made but narrowing the lips but not touching the teeth to the lower lip

Japanese words are pronounced as consecutive syllables. The syllable may be a single vowel or a consonant pronounced with the vowel that follows it (the exception to this is ‘n’ which is single). There is equal stress on each syllable (although the pitch may vary particularly at the end of a sentence).

sa-ku-ra (cherry blossom)
a-o-i (blue)
Ta-ka-ko (a female name) 		sa-mu-ra-i (samurai warrior)
su-mo
ka-ra-o-ke

When English words are pronounced by Japanese the word is broken down to the same syllables

te-e –bu-ru ( table)
he-ri-ko-pu-ta (helicopter)
a-i-su-ku-ri-mu (ice cream)		  

There are some syllables with more than 1 consonant

kyo (today)
ta-n-jyo-o-bi (birthday)
shi-n-ka-n-sen (bullet train)		  

Some syllables have a double consonant sound. This is usually indicated by a stroke above the letter.

ki-p-pu (ticket) ka-k-ki-ri (clearly)

There is never more than 1 vowel in a syllable. Repeated vowels are pronounced separately (or the meaning of the word may change).

i (stomach)
ii (good)
 ka-do (corner)
ka-a-do (card)

Examples

natsumi = na-tsu-mee (summer vacation)
arigato = a-ri-ga-to-u (thank you)
ohaiyo gozaimasu = oh-high-yoh-go-zye-ee-mus (good morning)
sayonara = sigh-yoh-nah-rah (goodnight)
konnichi wa -= kohn-ni-chi-wah


BASIC VOCABULARY

English Japanese Sound Japanese
Hello Konnichiwa こんにちは
Good Morning Ohayo- gozaimasu おはようございます
Good Evening Kombanwa こんばんは
Good Night Oyasumi nasai おやすみ なさい
Nice to meet you. Hajime mashite. はじめまして。
My name is _____. Watashi wa _____ desu. わたしは _____ です。
Goodbye Sayo-nara さようなら
Excuse me Sumimasen すみません
Sorry Gomen nasai ごめん なさい
Yes Hai はい
No Iie いいえ
I don’t understand Wakarimasen わかりません
I don’t know Shirimasen しりません
Thank you Arigato- ありがとう
Thank you very much Arigato- gozaimasu ありがとう ございます。
No thank you Iie kekko- desu. いいえけっこです。
You’re welcome. Do-itashimashite. どう いたしまして。
Where is _____? _____ wa doko desu ka. _____ は どこですか。
Where are the towels? Taoru wa doko desu ka. タオルはどこですか。
Where is the toilet? Toire wa doko desu ka. トイレはどこですか。
Where is John? John wa doko desu ka. ジョンはどこですか。
Please give me _____?
Can I please have _____?		 _____ wo kudasai. _____ をください。
Can I please have water? Mizu wo kudasai. みずをください。
Can I please have a towel Taoru wo kudasai. タオルをください。